IMPORTANT IRISH ART 3 MARCH 2025

116 88 John Mulvany (c.1839-1906) WATCHING THE BIRDS, 1877 oil on canvas signed ‘Jno Mulvany’; dated and inscribed ‘Lousville, Ky.’ lower left 17 by 14in. (43.2 by 35.6cm) Frame Size: 23.5 by 21in. (59.7 by 53.3cm) Provenance: Whyte’s, 29 September 2014, lot 177; Private collection Exhibited: Louisville, Kentucky Industrial Exposition, 1877 Literature: Niamh O’Sullivan, Irish Times 2 October 2010 In the immediate aftermath of the Famine, at about twelve years of age, Mulvany emigrated to the US where he became a phenomenon, and where he remained actively involved in the Clan na Gael movement. In 1876, General Custer’s command was annihilated on the Little Big Horn by Sioux warriors. Mulvany spent two years on Custer’s Last Rally (1881), one of the most celebrated paintings of its time. It toured America for seventeen years, drawing huge crowds and making Mulvany a fortune. Mulvany was one of the first artists to go to the frontier where he specialised in painting Western scenes. One of his few Irish subjects was The Battle of Aughrim, which was brought back to Ireland and sold by The Gorry Gallery. Works by this once internationally celebrated artist are extremely rare. Prof. Niamh O’Sullivan €2,500-€3,500 (£2,080-£2,920 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot88